3,000 health workers infected with COVID-19 worldwide — WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday over 3,000 health workers have been infected with coronavirus globally while many died in the process of offering care to affected people.

The Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who disclosed this during the commemoration of the International Year for the Nurse and Midwife, said many nurses and midwives face extraordinary challenges in their work yet they achieve incredible things.

Ghebreyesus urged countries with shortages of nurses to increase the number of nurses they graduate by an average of 8 percent each year and to implement measures to improve the employment and retention of nurses in their health systems.

He said: “Every day, nurses are putting themselves at risk to alleviate suffering and save lives. Over 3,000 health workers have been infected with #COVID19 and many have paid the ultimate price.

“Although the number of nurses, globally, increased by 4.7million between 2013 & 2018, the world is still facing a global shortfall of 5.9 million nurses, especially in Africa, South East Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and some parts of Latin America.”